


New Game

by thesolaralchemist



Category: BEN Drowned, Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 10:25:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3525758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesolaralchemist/pseuds/thesolaralchemist





	New Game

New Game  
By   
Dustin Denley

Okay, before I go any further with this, I want to get something out of the way. I know you’re going to think this is all bullshit. Even me saying that probably seems like some kind of scare tactic. You’re probably thinking this is another one of those scary stories that want you to think they’re real. You’ve seen them a hundred times before, and so have I. Even so, I want you to know ALL of this happened. You don’t have to believe it, I doubt you will, but I just want you to know that piece of information.

I guess I should introduce myself. My name’s Tristan and I’m from Pinkerton, Illinois. I’m twenty four, and as far as looks go, I’m a reasonably well built guy of 5’11. I also have brownish blonde hair I usually keep in a ponytail. I’ve been known to enjoy anime and a good video game. They’re mostly PC games, though, as I haven’t really ever been into buying whatever new console happens to be catching everyone’s attention. The only games I have that aren’t for the PC are for my Nintendo ’64 I’ve held onto since I was a kid. I like cooking, especially ethnic foods, though, I’m not very good at making stuff like sushi yet.

Alright, I think we know each other well enough for me to tell you my story.

It all started about a year ago, not long after I’d moved into my apartment. I had finally finished unpacking my stuff, and I was just kind of zoning out on my couch.

My apartment wasn’t anything special, the most interesting thing in it being my previously mentioned N’64 that I’d already hooked up to my TV. All of my actual games were still in a box, along with my DVDs. So, I was pretty bored on that couch. I could have actually gotten up and gotten one of the games out of the box, but I was tired from the move. None of the games I could think of really excited me enough to get up off the couch, either. That is, until I remembered one game. The game in question was Majora’s Mask. It was a good game, as I’m sure you’re aware of unless your last place of residence was under a rock, and it held a lot of nostalgic value for me personally.

So, I found the inner strength that had been in me all along, and got off the couch to fetch the box that contained my movies and games from my room. I searched the bleakest, blackest depths of the box, but found no Majora’s Mask. I was disappointed since, as I said before, the game meant something to me, but I wasn’t surprised since this sort of shit always happens during a move. I groaned in annoyance as I pushed the box aside. It was true that I could just make the completely inspired choice to play something else, but my heart was really set on Majora’s Mask, so I’d just wish I was playing that while I was playing whatever else I picked.

Then, I came to the enlightened realization that I could try exploring the different pawn shops in town for a used copy of the game. I’d not had much else planned for the day anyway aside from going to work, so I grabbed my coat, and left in my car to scour the land for a copy of Majora’s Mask.

The first two places I checked out didn’t have it, the guy at the second one trying to sell me a copy of Banjo Kazooi even though I informed him that I already owned a copy. The third place I stopped at didn’t look any different from the others. It was cluttered with various used items like guitars and TVs, and there was a glass counter displaying their movies and games with a shady guy behind it. Like I said, it was your usual pawn shop.

I looked through their selection, which was admittedly pretty good, until I saw the cartridge. The damned thing was sitting innocently next to a copy of Mario ’64. It’d had its label ripped off, the title scrawled in sharpie where the sticker had been. You’re probably saying, “You dumbass, you should have been able to tell it was fucked up from the start!” right now. To that I say, have you ever been in a pawn shop? Most of the games in a pawn shop look like that. I’d also been looking for two and a half hours, and I just wanted to get back to the home I’d busted my ass moving into. So, I paid the guy the thirteen bucks, and went home.

I’d just fucked up. Big time.

I got home, relieved to be out of the cold November weather, and excited to play the (probably bootlegged) copy of Majora’s Mask. Once I booted the game up, and the familiar logo came up, I was immediately transported back to the countless times I’d just wasted hours upon hours playing that game.

I went to the file screen, and saw that the last guy’s file was still on there. “BEN”. He’d apparently gotten pretty far, so I wondered somewhat why he had sold the game. I decided that he may have played it a thousand times before, and needed a little money. Regardless of why he’d sold the game, I felt respect for the previous owner, and decided to leave the file as it was. I created a new file, naming it “KINO”, and began my playthrough of the game. I was surprised it worked as well as it did. Aside from a few minor glitches with patterns, it was just like a retail copy. 

There was one thing that bugged me, though. Every now and again, those I encountered would call me Ben instead of Kino. It got to the point where they were calling me Ben more than the name I’d picked. Figuring the existing file was the obvious cause, I did what anyone would do, and deleted “BEN”. 

I played for a few minutes more before leaving for work.

I got home around eleven thirty that night, totally wiped. When I did, my Nintendo ’64 was on, the TV displaying the file screen for Majora’s Mask. I cursed under my breath, fairly certain leaving it on for seven and a half hours straight wasn’t a good thing to do. I stopped halfway, though. You see, the “BEN” file I’d deleted was once again sitting above the file I had made. “What the fuck…?”, I muttered, confused as to why the file had reappeared. I decided it was to blame on the cartridge’s obviously shady nature, and turned the system off to watch TV while I ate my dinner of Chinese take-out that I’d picked up on the way home. I went to bed after I’d finished eating, not really interested in catching boring late night television.

I didn’t have any weird dreams, in case you’re wondering. No, those would come later…

I started the next day normally. Y’know, waking up with morning wood, taking a shower, and making a breakfast of cereal and milk, nothing too exciting. By the time I’d reached the point of pouring my bowl of Reese’s Puffs, I decided I’d play some more of Majora’s Mask. Aside from wanting to have fun, I also wanted to be sure that the game hadn’t started to break down on me. It’d suck to start playing the thing, only to have it be lost in a mess of glitched programming. 

To my delight, the game worked fine. I got to the save screen to find “BEN” still there. I deleted the file (again), and resumed where I’d left off. Even though I said that the glitching hadn’t gotten any worse, it did still pose as a source of annoyance, albeit in a new way. Instead of occasionally referring to me as Ben, NPCs would call me “___”. Textures were still odd at times as well.

And so it came to pass that I would complete Woodfall and Snowhead Temple. I was working on Great Bay Temple, but I wasn’t gonna beat the clock this time, so I decided to use the “Fourth Day Glitch”. For the uninitiated, the glitch involves talking to the astronomer, and taking a peek through the telescope just as the clock hits 00:00:00. It was cheating, yeah, but I wasn’t going to just throw away the progress I’d made on the temple just so I could proudly declare I hadn’t cheated in a 90’s video game.

It took a try or two, but I did manage to get things right eventually. I pressed the B button to exit the telescope, ready to return to the dungeon, but I never got around to that. Instead of the familiar astronomer greeting me, I was instead greeted by the Majora’s boss fight room ( The freak one with the boxes).

Skull-Kid hovered above me, all silent save for the area’s creepy background music. I walked around some, and Skull-Kid’s gaze followed me everywhere I went. This had to be a glitch, I realized, seeing as Skull-Kid never appeared here. I got sick of this fast, and reached to reset the system, progress be damned, when a text box appeared.

“You shouldn’t have done that…”

The fuck? The game really must have been glitching out to do that, I thought. I continued my quest to reset the system, telling myself it was so I could continue my playthrough and not because the creepy scene was getting to me. Then another text box appeared.

“Go to The Temple’s Boss? Yes/No.”

I tried selecting “No”, but the damned game wouldn’t have it, so I picked “Yes”. The screen faded , reading, “Dawn of a New Day” with “IIIIIII” as the sub-text.

If the last glitch had been a little creepy, then this one was like a nightmare brought to life using 90’s video game graphics. I was in some kind of version of Clock Town that was totally empty, save for Link. There was something…off about this version of the town. I didn’t feel alone despite the aforementioned emptiness of the town. I felt like something else was there, it was just somewhere I couldn’t see it. Hiding. Watching. The music was the worst part, though. It was “The Song of Healing” played in reverse.

I walked around a little, and, just when I was again ready to turn the system off, I heard The Happy Mask Salesman’s laugh. It was faint, but I’d heard it. I thought that maybe this was some kind of horror-mod, and chose to seek The Salesman out.

I explored all four zones, but found jack-all. Some zones were really messed up, the south zone giving Link the apparent ability to walk on air. I tried zoning out, but I’d always pop up in another part of the town. Tried my ocharina, but I’d only get a text box reading, “Your notes echo far, but nothing happens.”

I sighed in frustration. I decided to try drowning myself in the laundry pool, and, if that failed, to just give up and reset. I appeared before the pool, and ran towards it.

And so it began.

Link stopped before reaching the pool, and grabbed at his head like he was in pain. An animation of The Happy Mask Salesman smiling flashed, almost as if the bastard was looking through the glass of the TV at me. When the screen changed back, I actually jumped at what I saw. It was that fucking creepy Link statue The Elgy of Emptiness summoned. I drew my blade, and charged the creepy fucker, but to no avail. I ran off, but the thing kept appearing behind me. As I tried to outrun it, I couldn’t believe a Zelda game really had me this scared. The Zelda games, this one in particular, had always been a source of fun and comfort, but that had been twisted just as much as “The Song of Healing”. As I ran, Link would occasionally spasm and jitter in creepy ways, The Happy Mask Salesman flashing on the screen for a few seconds each time that happened.

Eventually, I decided to just let the thing kill me. The screen flashed to The Salesman again. It returned showing Link imitating the statue, flipping their natural relationship. This game seemed all about reversing the norm. Link wasn’t stuck like that, though, as I was able to run off. The statue followed me more aggressively. Eventually, I heard a Reddead scream, and the screen faded, displaying “Dawn of a New Day” ”IIIIIIII”.

I found myself where I’d started, with The Skull-Kid hovering over me in an area he had no business being in. The music was different, though, The Stone Temple’s theme playing in reverse. I decided to charge him, but was stopped when a text box appeared.

“That won’t work. Hee. Hee.”

Link levitated, and burst into flames, screaming. I actually went stiff. That sort of attack wasn’t in the game to mod with. Link’s body fell to the ground, still ablaze, with an audible thud, and The Skull-Kid cackled.

The screen faded, and came back with the same scene waiting. This time, Link’s face was angled to look at me through the screen. 

I was kicked to the file screen. My file was there alongside a new one named “YOUR TURN”. I selected “YOUR TURN”, and came back to the scene I’d just left. It was dead quiet this time. A text box appeared.

“You’ve met a terrible fate, haven’t you?”

This game was too much. Hack or just really glitched, I’d had my fill. I got up to turn it off, and was kicked back to the file screen. My file was gone. “BEN” was back. There was a new file in “YOUR TURN”’s place. It was “DROWNED”. I didn’t give a shit, though, as I was busy turning the thing off.

I was left in the silence of my apartment. I stood in my StarWars PJ-bottoms and Doctor Who T-Shirt, wondering what my next course of actions should be. I decided to just trash the cartridge. Whatever the deal was with it, it wasn’t worth it to find out. I decided to just get out of the house for a little while. I got dressed properly, and called my friend, Erik, setting up to meet at this restaurant we liked. It was a fun time, especially after such a fucked up morning.

I got home with an hour and a half before I had to leave for work. All was fine until I walked into my living room to find that the cartridge was back in the slot, my TV displaying the file screen. Two new files. “NO EYES” and “CUT OUT”. I was frozen for a moment. This didn’t make any sense. I’d trashed the game, this…this couldn’t have been happening! This was like something out of a horror movie. Not even a good one because, come on, how scary could a haunted game cartridge be? I’ll tell you how scary, DAMN Scary when you’re actually faced with one and not judging the idea from a seat in a movie theater or from your computer screen.

I shut the TV and the system off, and tossed the cartridge in the trash (again). I didn’t want to be in my apartment anymore, so I changed into my work outfit, and left. I just bummed around a Starbucks near my house until my shift started, trying to get that damned game out of my head. I’d not done a good job seeing as it was still bugging me when I got home that night. I didn’t even bother eating dinner, I just went to bed, ready for the day to be over.

This is when the nightmares started.

I was in a suburban neighborhood. Relatively nice place, too. All the houses were the same in design like in your usual suburban neighborhood, but each family had done something to make their home unique. None of those families were there, though. The place felt totally empty. I walked around for a ‘bit to confirm this. Then it started. The warped Song of Healing started emanating throughout the neighborhood, seemingly coming from everywhere. It was initially horrifying, but it soon began to grate on my nerves to the point I felt like I was going insane. Occasionally I heard Him too. The Happy Mask Salesman, laughing at my pain. Not because he thought it was funny, but it sounded more like my pain was something that actually brought him joy.

Then, I felt liquid rush into my lungs when I inhaled. My vision was blurred, and my eyes burned. My insides were on fire too. Not to mention the poisonous taste that coated my tongue. Eventually, I stopped struggling, and just gave up. It felt like I floated there for an eternity.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed mine, and pulled me onto rough concrete. I coughed and hacked before weakly opening my eyes. In my blurred vision, I saw him leaned over me. I wanted to run, but my body was too weak. The Happy Mask Salesman produced a knife, and began cutting around my face. It may have been a dream, but I FELT it. I felt him expertly cut away at my flesh, the knife digging into my face. I felt the blood run, and I felt the sting of air on exposed muscle as he peeled my face off. I looked up, and saw him put the severed flesh on his own face. He seemed satisfied with his new mask.

That was the last thing I saw as he decided to gouge out my eyes with the knife he’d used to severe my face from my head. And, yeah…I felt that too. My head leaned, the feeling of concrete on raw muscle being indescribably painful. As blood pooled beneath my head, a thought echoed in my head.

You’ve met a terrible fate, haven’t you?

I jolted up in my bed with a scream, cold sweat all over me. My heart beat so hard in my chest that I felt like things were about to turn into a Ridley Scott movie, and I breathed like I’d just got the gold for track in The Olympics. I got out of my bed, and rushed to the bathroom. As I finished splashing water on my face, I noticed something. Fear filled me as I realized the warped Song of Healing was echoing from the living room.

With a shaky but determined hand, I grabbed the door knob and turned. I cautiously walked down the hallway, not exactly excited to see what was waiting for me in there. The cartridge was back in the Nintendo ’64, and the screen displayed Link imitating the statue in Clock Town again. I just stared at it in fear for a moment before shutting it off. I didn’t bother with the cartridge as it was obvious that it wasn’t going anywhere soon.

I just quietly shook where I stood before leaving for my room. I honestly didn’t know why I was even bothering since sleep obviously wasn’t going to come to me that night. I stopped halfway to my room when I heard the music start back up. I walked back to find the same scene as before. I turned it off again, and tried to rise above the fear at least a little to figure this out. I tried to go to the bed again, with the same result. It was apparent to me the game didn’t want me to leave the room. I grabbed a pillow and blanket, and rested on the couch after shutting the system off. I barely slept at all, but what little sleep I got was thankfully dreamless. 

I woke up the next morning, abundantly aware of the knots the couch had given me. My spinal column kriked and kraked as I sat up. I was thankful the game had decided not to start while I was asleep. I must have spent an hour just thinking about how I was actually being forced to accept my life had turned into some kind of bullshit horror story. That irrational fear of some boogey man out to get you was now not only real, but there was nothing I could do about it. It wasn’t the most enjoyable hour. 

I finally worked up the courage to take a shower, focusing on the sound of water instead of the music. I felt like Londoner in World War II. Trying to act as if all was well when it clearly wasn’t. I got dressed, hands shaking thanks to the fear an old video game was instilling in me. I left without touching it, knowing it was pointless. I also told myself that I didn’t see Link’s gaze follow me as I passed.

I ate breakfast at a Waffle House, and went to Barnes&Noble to kill time before my shift started. When I got to the office, the usually mind numbing array of cubicles actually made me smile. At least things were still sane there, I thought. The day was average with water cooler bullshit, typing at the computer, and wishing I had a better job. Of course, the usually sane air of things didn’t last all day.

I was typing some document when my phone vibrated. I looked down to see it was from some number I didn’t know. It simply read “Why?”. I closed my eyes, sighing. I apparently wasn’t safe here, either. And so began the following exchange:

“Why what?”  
“Why are you a coward, Tristan?”  
“What the fuck are you talking about?”  
“You won’t play with me because you are a coward. I wish to know why.”  
"Who the Hell are you?"  
“You know who I am, Tristan. I am Ben.”  
“Let me guess, next you’re gonna tell me you’re the game’s former owner who drowned tragically, and you just want a friend. Bullshit, no one wanting a friend would fuck with me like this. With your lie exposed, why don’t you try telling me the truth?”  
“My, my, you are clever. There really was a boy named Ben once, and he really did drown. His soul even entered the cartridge you purchased. I am the one who was waiting for him. I carved his soul into my throne, and sat in it.”

I just stared at the message in horror. It just kept getting worse. The phone vibrated one more time.

“I was hoping to do the same to you.”

I dropped the phone, and stood on weak knees. I staggered to the restroom, earning a few glances. I gripped the sink, and stood there hyperventilating. I grabbed a napkin, and used it to regulate my breathing. I looked in the mirror to see I was sweating a little, and I even looked pale. I couldn’t’ stop shaking no matter how hard I tried.

The rest of the day was a blur of feigning calm while I worried about what awaited me in my apartment. When I got home, the same scene as before was on the TV. I shut it off, and just got to sleeping on the couch. At least when I had nightmares they weren’t real.

My dream was the same one from before, but this time…I was The Happy Mask Salesman. I watched myself, hiding in different places to avoid my line of sight. It brought me great joy seeing myself struggle. It genuinely made me happy to see me so small and confused and scared.

I stood at the edge of a pool, watching myself thrash about. So pointlessly struggling like the pathetic thing I was. I watched as the struggling turned into lifeless floating. I let it go on for a few minutes, wanting the feeling of utter despair and surrender to set in.

Once I felt like I’d stewed enough, I pulled myself up. I was confused and coughing water. I cut him with practiced skill, savoring the feeling of flesh resisting against the blade, of blood hitting the air to create a wonderfully metallic smell. I peeled my face away, and put it on my own face. I savored the warm feeling of the wet, new identity.

I looked down at the pathetic thing at my feet, and stabbed its eyes out, leaving it to bleed to death.

I woke up again screaming, the music playing on the TV. I screamed louder when I saw a close up of The Elgy of Emptiness statue's face. I scrambled to the Nintendo, and ripped the cartridge from the slot, tossing it across the room. I went back to the couch, my body wracked with sobs. I cried there for hours before I finally attained another brief, dreamless sleep.

I woke up to silence, for which I was grateful. I looked, and saw that the cartridge was back in the slot. I don’t know how long I laid there. It wasn’t like the day before when I’d been lost in thought I just didn’t WANT to have to deal with what my life had turned into anymore. I just listened to the fridge go on and off and the creak of my ceiling fan. I finally worked up the courage to get ready for work. I ignored my trembling hands while the music played.

When I got to the office, my feeling of comfort from yesterday was gone. The grey monotony of it all was no longer safe. Ben could get to me there just as easily as he could get to me at home. I typed at the computer, ready for Ben to fuck with me in some way. When everyone talked at lunch, I opted to wait until they’d dissipated, not really in the mood for socialization.

Sometime after lunch, I wasn’t really acknowledging time’s passage at this point, my phone began to vibrate to tell me that someone had decided to call me at my least sociable. The conversation was as follows:  
“Hello?”  
“I can help.”  
“What?”  
“I can help you with your problem. I can help you with Ben.”  
“Wha—Who is this?!?”  
“My name is Matt. I’ve…dealt with him before. I’ve gone through what you’re going through, Tristan.”  
“…How do you know all this?”  
“I told you, I know to deal with him because I’ve deal-“  
“NO. How did you know about me? How did you know what’s been happening?! How do you know my name?!?”  
“…”  
“Answer me, dammit!”  
“…”  
“This is you, isn’t it, BEN?!?”  
“Heheheheheheh…”  
“Goddammit!”  
“Since you won’t play Majora’s Mask with me, I thought maybe we could play pretend instead.”  
“Y’know what? Fuck you! Fuck you and your mind games! I will NEVER play that game with you, understand?”  
“Heh Heh Hoo Hoo HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

The laugh continued until “Matt’s” voice, which had been of a deeper tone, turned into The Happy Mask Salesman’s cackle. I threw the phone down, stepping on it until the noise stopped. I looked around to find I’d attracted odd looks from most of my co-workers. I gathered my things, and left, trying to come up with something to tell my boss so I wouldn’t lose my job.

I went to the same Starbucks near my home as yesterday. I must’ve looked pretty shady sitting there, barely touching my drink and staring out the window. I wasn’t really looking for attention. If I’d been noticed, now one would’ve been able to comfort me anyway since this wasn’t the sort of situation many could say they’d had to go through themselves.

I finally dragged myself home when they told me they were closing. The warped Song of Healing welcomed me home. I shut it off and laid on the couch. I was actually able to fall asleep quickly seeing as I wanted the day to just end.

I was running through long, winding corridors. The air tasted damp and rotten. Everything was dark, to the point of feeling like I’d fall off some ledge with every step I took. I was being followed by something. No, hunted. I didn’t know what it was or its intentions, but I knew I wouldn’t like what would happen if it caught up to me.

Then I came to a dead end. I heard it stop behind me. I waited a moment, tense and afraid, before turning around quickly to face it.

It was me. It was standing in a non-descript stance, face blank. I don’t know how, but I knew it hadn’t looked like that before I’d turned around. It had…changed to look like me when I had turned to face it.

Then I felt it. My arms began to spasm without my consent. They moved until my arms were like the…thing’s. My legs and back did the same until I was totally mirroring the thing. No, I wasn’t mirroring it. My body was just as much under its control as its own body was. My actions were no longer my own.

I wasn’t even me anymore. I was him. I was Ben.

I jolted up for the third night, breathing hard. I was surprised to find that the silence I’d fallen asleep to remained undisturbed. I sat there for a while, waiting for something to happen. It was six in the morning. I just laid there until twelve, not getting up once. My stomach ached, my bladder felt like it was going to burst, and I felt as greasy as a piece of deep fried food.

By twelve, I’d finally had enough of the greatest hits of my apartment settling, and got up. I put on my clothes from yesterday, not caring how awful I probably looked. I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.

I drove to Wal-Mart since I needed to restock on food. It felt so good to be surrounded by other people, to hear sounds and chattering that had nothing to do with me. I was pushing my cart to the frozen foods area, passing the electronics aisle, when I heard it. It was the warped Song of Healing, blaring from the speakers. I slowly turned my head to see him. The Elgy of Emptiness statue was on the multiple TVs, The Happy Mask Salesman’s laughing face occasionally flashing for a split-second. When it was the statue, there was a text box.

“You shouldn’t have done that…”

What was worse than all that, though, was the fact that no one was reacting. They all shopped as if the broken melody wasn’t playing, and there wasn’t nightmare fuel on the TV screens. I screamed and ran, abandoning my cart. THAT earned a few reactions.

I ran out of the store to the solitude of my car. I just sat there, replaying what'd just happened over and over in my head. They hadn’t reacted. Only I had heard the music, and only I saw the statue. I was the only one. Was this all in my head? Had I just randomly snapped away from reality after buying the game? Was…Was I insane?

I cranked my car, deciding I needed to just drive for a little while. When I did, my radio came to life, that damned song playing. I shut it off, but it just came back on. As I drove, I kept trying to shut it off, until I’d resorted to punching it, trying to smash whatever made it work. My fist began to bleed after a little while, so I gave up. I HAD to get home. The silence from before would be a sanctuary to me now.

I scrambled to the door of my apartment. I fumbled through my keys, and finally opened the door. I sighed when there was still unbroken silence. When I closed the door behind me, it started again. The music blared, and The Happy Mask Salesman’s face laughed at me on the TV. I broke. I just fell to my knees and curled in a ball, sobbing. I cried for God knows how long. Eventually I stopped, just sitting there while the music played, The Salesman’s laugh occasionally audible. I…I think the only reason I stayed sane was because I started singing. It was “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. It got to the point where my throat was going hoarse. I didn’t sleep that night, I just sat there singing.

I don’t know why, but I decided I wanted to go to the park around nine the next morning. I guess maybe it was because there wasn’t any sort of technology there, and Ben could only get to me if I was around technology. I stood for the first time since I’d gotten home, and left the Hellish cacophony that was my apartment.

The bus ride was a blissful respite. It was just so…nice. Before, when my life wasn't some demented joke of a ghost story, the ride would have been unbearably boring. Now I was smiling like an idiot over a bus ride.

When I got to the park, the biting cold reminded me that I should have broken through my hysteria long enough to grab a coat. Dead grass and leaves crunched beneath my feet on my way to the bench. After I sat on the cold piece of metal, I looked up at the overcast sky. It was totally quiet. No one else was there, but I couldn’t even hear animals like birds and squirrels. I don’t think I’d ever felt so completely and utterly alone in my life.

After a few hours, the cold became too much, and I had to leave the Hell that was that park. It really was a Hell of its own, that place, it may have been a lesser one than my apartment, but it was still a Hell. I get the feeling the one responsible for the one in my apartment was also responsible for the one at the park.

The bus ride home was not as nice as the one before it. It was still a great deal better than the park or my apartment, but the fact that I was going home made it less enjoyable.

I stood in front of the door to my apartment for a few minutes before opening it. I knew, just like you do, misery waited for me behind that door. I slipped the key in the slot, and turned the lock. When I opened the door, the music that had followed me for the past week was waiting. It wasn’t JUST the music anymore, though. The Happy Mask Salesman’s laugh, which had only occasionally shown up before, now played constantly along with the music. I think THAT was what the thing that set me off.

I charged at the game system, tearing the cartridge out. I went to my kitchen, and shoved the fucking thing in my blender. I smiled as I clicked the blender on. The crunching and snapping of the plastic was loud and satisfying. “Who’s laughing now!?!? Huh?!?!? Who’s laughing now?!?!?!”, I screamed over the blender. Eventually, I was ready to stop blending, and looked inside. My heart stopped when I looked into the empty blender. Not a moment after looking in the blender, the music…and the laughing started again behind me.

My hands fell limply at my sides as I turned to walk into the living room. I looked at The Salesman’s cackling face out of the corner of my eye. It started with a smirk and a low rumble of my throat. Soon I was smiling and cackling. My body was wracked with laughter. As I got louder, so did the TV. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes as Ben and I shared a laugh.

Then, everything went dead silent. I sharply turned to see a black screen with a text box in the center.

“Go to the temple’s boss?” Yes/No.”

I didn’t even have to think about it. That bastard had made my life Hell, and had passed the week trying to drive me insane. He’d damn near succeeded too.

I said “Yes.” Aloud.

I don’t know how long I was out. However long it was, I eventually opened my eyes. Red filled my vision. A bright, blazing red. I turned my head, becoming aware I was lying on what felt like...grass. I saw a yellow orb in the sky. The moon is yellow sometimes, yeah, but this one was unnaturally deep in its hue. I wearily pushed myself up. Whatever was on the ground poked into my hand. It was grass. Black, dead grass. I stood to take in my surroundings. I was in a hilly plain of the blackened grass. I could see an equally blackened and dead tree. Its branches were like the fingers of a skeleton. A little away from me, I could see a lake as red as the sky. I was beginning to wonder how I’d ended up there when I heard Him behind me. At that point, I realized why I was there, and turned to face him.

As a child, I’d always wanted to meet the characters in video games. Mario, Sonic, M…but out of all of them, the one I’d always wanted to meet most was Link. He was young like me, but he could kick scary monster ass. He'd even twisted that.

He was young, only a few years younger than myself, maybe nineteen. He was wearing Link’s trademark green outfit, but it was torn and clinging to him due to the water dripping from his form. His skin was pale, and his hair was long and blonde. He was smiling widely at me. Where his eyes belonged, there were black caverns with dried blood around them. Deep in those impossibly black sockets were red orbs. They moved and followed me as eyes would have.

I knew that the thing in front of me wasn’t what he really looked like. It probably didn’t even need to be a he. This was just a mask that it was fond of. Those red orbs hiding in the darkness of those empty sockets were the only real part of this thing.

“Hello.”, he said, his voice youthful like his appearance. I opted to be silent, giving him a hard stare. “I do love this part. Getting to crack you open, and tear out everything inside, I mean.”, he continued. “It’ll be interesting being you. I do enjoy being in total control of the world around me, but I think existing amongst you…weak little things would give me a healthy challenge. It’ll be fascinating to break others with so limited power.”, he went on. My fists clenched.

The most terrifying thing was that I knew he wasn’t talking about just possessing my body, and doing horrible things. No, he meant he would be me as in he would experience my emotions and memories, but he was such a pure, black evil thing that he wouldn’t change from it. That was what he had done to Ben.

I wasn’t going to let him do that to me.

I felt something hard in my right hand. It had a kind of weight to it. I looked to see there was a sword in my hand. It was well made, the hilt having designs on it, and the blade was silver and sharp. It had just…appeared in my hand when I’d decided to fight this. I looked to Ben to see he had a sword just like mine. His expression was one of surprised joy. As joyful as an expression can be when the face making it had empty, black voids where its eyes belonged.

“Oh!”, he said, tone matching his expression. “You’re choosing to fight! They NEVER have that left in them by this point! I’m going to enjoy cutting it out of you!”, he grinned, readying himself for what had to follow.

He charged at me, his strikes quick and decisive. I blocked, mostly, barley able to do so. He managed to land a few cuts and gashes. Aside from how surreal the situation obviously was, it was very surprising to me that I was able to do as well as I did. I’d never had any experience with sword fighting outside of playing with toy lightsabers as a kid. As the fight went on, his strikes became more and more aggressive. I still managed to protect myself, and started fighting offensively. My swings were fast, and carried weight with them. He ducked under one of my strikes, and kicked my feet out from under me. I landed on my back with a painful thud. I looked up, stars in the back of my eyes making things hazy, to see Ben standing over me, grinning. He was about to drive his blade into my skull. I rolled out of the way, the blade entering the blackened earth.

I stood as Ben quickly pulled his sword out of the ground. I stood near the red lake when he charged me again. Once more our blades connected, new intensity in our fight. Our swords finally met at the same speed with enough force that they shattered. Metal flew at fast speeds, embedding in the both of us in various spots on our bodies. I charged Ben, sending us both into the lake. I struggled with him, using the hilt of my ruined sword to hit his face, until I shoved him face first into the water. As he fought against my hand holding him in the red, I took the jagged remains of my blade, and stabbed it into his back several times, a black liquid bleeding out.

I…I don’t know how long I kept stabbing, just that I did it long after he’d gone limp. After going thourgh so much Hell I just...I couldn't stop myself. I dropped the busted sword eventually, letting it sink to the bottom of the lake. A black cloud hung around Ben’s corpse. I felt a breeze blow, and looked at the moon.

I smiled as the dawn of a new day came.

When I woke up, the cartridge was gone. I didn’t know where it’d gone, and I really didn’t care. I smiled, and just sat there appreciating the quiet. It wasn’t the desolate, maddening silence I’d experienced before, but one that held the quiet sounds of life on its edges. The sounds of appliances and of my neighbors filled me with ease. I wasn’t alone anymore.

Life’s been nice since then. I got a new job, teaching, and I’ve met a girl, Jean. Obviously it’s not all okay, though. Some nights, memories eat at me, that feeling of my mind cracking I’d felt that week haunting me. I’ll wake up screaming some nights from the nightmares. They’re not the same as the ones I had then, they’re much more like average nightmares in that they’re murky and hard to recall. That laugh, the warped music, and those red orbs hiding in the darkness of those empty sockets being all I can ever remember. Still, I’m happy, and I know that means I’ve won.

I’m sure you’re curious as to why I posted this on the internet where no one will believe it. I did it to bring closure. Reliving it and looking at it where I am now have helped me of the fear that week left in me. Like I said before, you don’t have to believe any of this, just know it happened.

Epilogue:  
“Hey, Lenny, didn’t we sell this game? What’s it doing here again?”


End file.
